Competitiveness. Now theyre looking at everything. At individual taxes, theyre looking at Corporate Taxes, you go way over here on the end, madam speaker, you get to the International Tax rules. Thats how well we work with the rest of the world with our tax system. America ranks dead last. I bring it up because im reading from our treasury secretary, his comments at the urban Institute Last week. Hes talking about american corporations moving their headquarters overseas. Not moving a factory overseas, but moving their International Headquarters overseas. And he says this. He says, this practice allows the corporation to avoid their civic responsibilities. While continuing to benefit from everything that makes america the best place in the world to do business. Worst place in the world to do business. Thats what the Facts Foundation tells us. I read on from the secretarys speech. He says, best place in the world to do business, our rule of law, our International Property rights, our support for research and development, our universities, our innovative and entrepreneurial culture, our skilled work force. Again speaking about the practice of moving your headquarters overseas. He says, this may be legal, but it is wrong. And our laws should change. By effectively renouncing their citizenship, these companies are eroding americas Corporate Tax base. That means all other taxpayers will have to shoulder their responsibility. I go into a Tax Foundation chart, madam speaker. Its a chart of what the rate is, and you cant see what the individual Corporate Tax rates are, but what you can see is the green lines here, thats the average Corporate Tax rate around the world. Its 25 . You see another green line, thats the average by the size of the economy, that of course shifts gives more weight to the larger economies on the planet. That goes up to 29 . And at the bottom of this chart, madam speaker, you see in red the United States of america. With the absolute highest Corporate Tax rate in the world. By our own design, and i say our own, siveb not gotten to vote on a Corporate Tax code, but by our design as a nation, we have created the absolute worst place to do business on. He entire planet our treasure secretary calls companies who observe that and make changes because of that, so that our grandmothers and grandfathers and our pension programs and everyone who relies on the success of those companies in order to meet their fixed income demands, so that those companies can he calls that a shirking of civic responsibility. Im on the floor tonight, madam speaker, to suggest that it is not those companies that observe that americas the worst on the planet and move elsewhere that are shirking their responsibilities. It is those of us in this chamber, those of us on capitol hill, those of us in washington, d. C. , who are responsible for this Corporate Tax road, it is we who are shirking our civic responsibilities, because we can do better. I know its getting late, madam speaker. And i hate to take you through the math. But when we talk about tax codes and why theyre so bad, its the math that matters. This is Tax Liability for a corporation doing business in the United States of america. Lets say you earned 1,000. Youre going to pay a 35 rate. Youre going to add state taxes to that rate as well. Its going to be about 39. 1 on average. About 391 out ever every 1,000. So at the end of the day, youre going to be table to able to take home 609 to pay your salaries, to invest in your business, to grow your company. 609. Thats an American Company doing business in america. How about a Canadian Company . Doing business in canada . Same 1,000 worth of income, theyre paying 15 tax rate. At the national level. Theyre also having a proinvention tax rate added to that, totals about 26. 5 , 265. Heyre taking home 735. You earn 1,000 worth of income as an American Company doing business in america, you take home 609. Youre in you earn 1,000 of income at a Canadian Company doing business in canada, you take home 735. I know what youre thinking, youre thinking thats apples to oranges. Ones doing business in america, ones doing in business in canada. Ets look further. Lets say we take those same two companies, that one American Company, that one Canadian Company, and lets say theyre both doing business in the United States of america. They earn 1,000, they pay 391 in taxes, theyre at the highest Corporate Tax rate in the world, that American Company takes home 609. Go to the Canadian Company doing business in america. They earn that same 1,000, they pay that same highest Corporate Tax rate that america has, highest in the world, they take home 609. Whether youre the u. S. Company or the Canadian Company, you do business in america, you pay the same tax. I know what youre thinking. Youre saying, whats the argument here . Whats the issue that we have to come together and solve . Its this issue right here, madam speaker. Lets say youre not doing business in america. Lets say youre doing business in canada. Were going to take that same American Company, were going to take that same Canadian Company and were going to look at what happens when theyre doing business in canada. That American Company earns 1,000, it pays the canadian government 265. The Canadian Company raises 1,000, they pay the canadian government 265. But its what happens next that makes america one of the worst tax codes in the world. When you try to bring that 735 you have left over back to america, you pay american taxes on top of what youve already paid canada. So the u. S. Corporation doing business in canada earns 1,000, they end up with 650 at the end of the day. The Canadian Company doing 1,000 worth of business in canada pays their taxes, ends up with 735 at the end of the day. Thats why companies are moving overseas. They do exactly the same business in exactly the same place as all of their international competitors, but simply because their headquarters is based in america, they pay more. The power to tax is the power to destroy. And because of the way we have chosen to tax our companies, a methodology that has been rejected by most of the rest of the world, we punish every Single Company that chooses to stay in america employing americans. Weve been talking about it in terms ofburging king of burger king. I dont know if youre a burger king fan. Or tim horton. I love them both. The suggestion has been made that when burger king and tim hortons are going to get together and the Head Quarters are going to be located in canada instead of america, that that is somehow an unpatriotic decision being made by burger king. I want you to see the revenue by category that this newburgher King Tim Hortons merger is going to have. This acquisition is going to have. About 20 of the revenue is coming from america. About 67 of the revenue is coming from canada, about 13 is coming internationally. Now i go back to this chart, madam speaker. Where i said, what if youre doing business in canada, if youre an American Company you take home less. Not a little less, but more than 10 less. If youre a Canadian Company, you take home more. Same amount of business, same country of business location, but because youre head your Head Quarters are somewhere different, you take home less money. If youre burger king and youre in this tim hortons acquisition, youre making most of your money in canada. So what are you supposed to do . If i asked the white house, theyd tell me im supposed to stay in america and put up with the absolute worst tax code the country has ever seen. This country has ever seen. But also the worst tax code anywhere on the planet. This is america, for petes sakes. We can do better. Its not that burger king is choosing to leave america, its that america is running burger king out. And that, that responsibility lies with us here in this chamber. Its an arcane issue called worldwide tax system versus a territorial tax system. When youre in a worldwide tax system, and there are only seven countries left in the world that do this, you double tax your companies. You charge them a tax based on the country in which they earned the money, and then if they bring that money back to america, you charge them nother tax on top of that. Most nations on this planet, most nations with firstworld economies, they use whats called a territorial tax system. That means whatever country you raise the money in, you pay the tax in. And when you bring that money back to your home country, you are not double taxed one more time. This is the issue we ought to be talking about. We shouldnt be talking about patriotism. We should be talking about common sense as it relateses to having america relates to having america compete in a global economy. I ask you, madam speaker, if we had the absolute worst tax code in the world, if we have the absolute highest Corporate Tax rate in the world, if we have the least competitive International Tax system in the world, what do you think is going to happen to International Businesses when they make their decision about whether or not to locate in america . They decide, no. Hey decide no. Madam speaker, i want to talk just a little bit about what president obama has said. Its called corporate inversion, when you move your headquarters from america, you acquire a Different Company overseas, you make that your International Headquarters, its called a corporate inversion. You may have seen that in the news. Heres what president obamas had to say about it. Even as corporate profits are higher than ever, theres a small but growing rube of big corporations that are fleeing the country to get out of paying taxes. Fleeing the country to get out of paying taxes. President obama goes on, he says, i say fleeing the country but theyre not actually doing that. Theyre not going anywhere. Theyre keeping their business here. But theyre moving their headquarters. They dont want to give up the best universities, best military, the advantages, they just dont want to pay for it so theyre technically renouncing their u. S. Citizenship. Well, that sounds very similar, very similar to what i read from jack lew a little bit earlier. Thats the party line. Coming out of the white house. I go on. These visits that these businesses are playing by the rules but these companies are cheary picking the rules and it damages our nations finances. It makes it harder to invest in things like job training. He says, im not interested in punishing these companies, but i am interested in economic patriotism. As a government, weve crafted the most punishing tax code on the face of this earth. We have created the longest list of disincentives to locate your business in our country that is available anywhere on the planet today. And the question the president is asking is, i dont want to punish these countries, these companies, but where is their economic patriotism . Madam speaker, where is our economic patriotism . The tax code is something we created. Do you believe for a moment if the 435 of us in this chamber got together to write the tax code today we would write the absolute worst tax code available anywhere on planet earth . I dont think so. If we designed this tax code from scratch, wed have done something very different. But this is where weve ended up. Ill close with this from the president. Now the problem is this loophole. Theyre using it in our tax laws, but its actually legal. My attitude is, i dont care if its legal, its wrong. I dont care if its the law of the land, i dont care if its the law, they shouldnt do it nyway. I go to the courts for answers and its interesting that this idea of economic patriotism. It has been argued in court time and time again. I quote from the Second Circuit afffirmed by the supreme court. Anyone may so arrange affairs that his taxes shall as low as possible. He is not bound to choose that pattern, which will best pay the treasury. This isnt even a patriotic duty to increase ones taxes. We have had the suggestion, economic patriotism, you should pay more. Its not our fault, its the congress. Not our fault. Its your fault. You should be doing something different. Everybody does so, rich or poor and all do right, where nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands. Taxes are enforced extraction, not voluntary contribution to demand more in the name of morals. Taxes are extractions, not voluntary contributions. Madam speaker, i want to say to all of my colleagues, if you dont believe you are paying enough in taxes, well give you an address to the Treasury Department. Taxes are extractions. If you are interested in a voluntary contribution, i can tell you where to mail your check. Tax law exists to provide not just certainty to employers, but also to investors and sbraurs and to families and also to employees and those who show up to work. The law provides us with certainty. We as a government have created the worst tax environment on the planet and the leader of our government wants to blame the companies that have stuck with us day in and day out the last 50 years. No wonder companies are leaving us, the wonder is that companies didnt leave us long ago. It is a punishing environment to do business in america. So whats the solution . You know im not going to come down here and identify a problem. I want to talk to you what president obama, who i have quoted tonight, what secretary jack lew and what they had to say i is this. Est way is through tax reform, closes wasteful loopholes and simplifies the tax code. Im with him 100 . With him 100 . What the president has said i support 100 . And thats not what he is saying on the campaign trail. And he said what is best for the Share Holders and best for its customers is unpatriotic. If they choose to try to improve the lot of their customers, theirholders and there is an obligation to subject yourself to what this congress, thr country has created. Maybe jack lew had a different idea. Only tax reforms can solve the problems in our tax code that lead to inversions. I know what you are thinking about. You are wondering if i made a terrible mistake because i have been talking about how president obama said it was unpatriotic and how he said they ought to fix it and they have a duty and ought to fix it and they ought to stay. No. These are the very same men saying something entirely different, because they know not on the campaign trail but in mysterious rooms where they are talking about policy, only way to take america into the next century and make us the most competitive nation on the planet and get those jobs in america is fundamental tax code reform. Burger king cant do fundamental tax reform. Tim hortons cant do it. Warren buffet cant do it, only this congress can. We can and we should, in fact, our ways and means chairman, has tried. Let me go on and get the other side of the issue. I quoted folks from the white house. House Speaker John Boehner said this, instead of dividing people for political advantage, the president can endorse our push for comprehensive tax reform or convince Senate Democrats to act. Lets solve the real problem here. It is the real problem here. Orst tax code on the planet. Dave camp, everyone agrees that tax reform is the real solution that will keep Companies Moving their headquarters out of the United States and more importantly, encourage more businesses to grow and hire and increase wages for American Workers. Thats what it is about. Grow. Hire. Increase wages for American Workers. Its not about passing a mandatory minimum wage. That will kill jobs. Increase peoples salaries while doing away with others. We support environmental protections. There are some regulations that make no sense, but the regulations that protect us, we noticed those. Its not going to the time when rivers were on fire, the answer is in fundamental tax code reform so we can grow, so we can hire, so we can increase merican wages. They tell a story that tells a story about the big corporations who happen to provide a lot of jobs to American Families but thats not the story they tell. They tell the story of greed and per version in the tax code. But when they get down to serious policy conversations and get off the campaign trail and what makes the difference, they all agree, fundamental tax reform makes the difference. How are we going to get there . We have seen the shenanigans that go on and seen the desperate need that requires we get there. How are we going to get there . The president s croum on jobs and competitiveness has been cleared. This is the president s council. We have to view our Corporate Tax rates as part of our National Package for j